Popular Categories

Ellen Celebrates 20th Anniversary of Coming Out Episode, Says ‘We Have a Long Way to Go’

'The Ellen Show'

It has been 20 years since Ellen DeGeneres’ iconic character came out in a groundbreaking episode of her sitcom, “Ellen.”

Ellen will mark the anniversary on Friday with a touching one-hour special on “The Ellen Show” featuring Oprah, who guest-starred in the historic episode, and former co-star Laura Dern.

“Extra’s” Charissa Thompson sat down with the talk show host to reflect on how much has and hasn’t changed since then.

“It’s weird, in a way it feels like 20 years, and in a way it doesn’t,” she said. “It’s crazy how much my life has changed since that time.”

When Charissa asked how far Ellen thinks we’ve come in terms of acceptance, she answered, “I think we have a long way to go for a lot of acceptance. The world is a very divided place right now. We need to love one another and accept our differences.”

This is a big month for the daytime talk queen, who just pulled off a major surprise for some superfans in New York. She also has some big stars lined up, including Reese Witherspoon, Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn. Click here to find out when to watch.

Also making headlines is Ellen’s wife Portia de Rossi’s shocking death on “Scandal.”

DeGeneres said, “That was not how we thought she would go out. That was a surprise to both of us that she was going to be hit by a golf club. She was tweeting me pictures as it was happening, and I was like, 'I don't want to see that.'”